1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film formation method and apparatus for forming a silicon-containing insulating film on a target substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, in, e.g., a semiconductor processing system. The term “semiconductor process” used herein includes various kinds of processes which are performed to manufacture a semiconductor device or a structure having wiring layers, electrodes, and the like to be connected to a semiconductor device, on a target substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate used for an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or FPD (Flat Panel Display), by forming semiconductor layers, insulating layers, and conductive layers in predetermined patterns on the target substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In manufacturing semiconductor devices for constituting semiconductor integrated circuits, a target substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, is subjected to various processes, such as film formation, etching, oxidation, diffusion, reformation, annealing, and natural oxide film removal. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-60947 (Patent Document 1) discloses a semiconductor processing method of this kind performed in a vertical heat-processing apparatus (of the so-called batch type). According to this method, semiconductor wafers are first transferred from a wafer cassette onto a vertical wafer boat and supported thereon at intervals in the vertical direction. The wafer cassette can store, e.g., 25 wafers, while the wafer boat can support 30 to 150 wafers. Then, the wafer boat is loaded into a process container from below, and the process container is airtightly closed. Then, a predetermined heat-process is performed, while the process conditions, such as process gas flow rate, process pressure, and process temperature, are controlled.
Conventionally, silicon oxide films (SiO2 films) are mainly used as insulating films for semiconductor devices. However, in recent years, owing to the demands of increased integration and miniaturization of semiconductor integrated circuits, silicon nitride films (Si3N4 films) are used in place of silicon oxide films, as usage. For example, silicon nitride films are disposed as films resistant to oxidation, films for preventing impurity diffusion, and sidewall films of gate electrode structures. Since silicon nitride films provide a low coefficient of impurity diffusion and a good barrier property against oxidation, they are very suitable as insulating films for the purpose described above.
In recent years, owing to the demands of increased miniaturization and integration of semiconductor integrated circuits, it is required to alleviate the thermal history of semiconductor devices in manufacturing steps, thereby improving the characteristics of the devices. For vertical processing apparatuses, it is also required to improve semiconductor processing methods in accordance with the demands described above. For example, there is a CVD process which performs film formation while intermittently supplying a source gas and so forth to repeatedly form layers each having an atomic or molecular level thickness, one by one, or several by several (for example, see Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-281853 (Patent Document 2)). In general, this film formation method is called ALD (Atomic layer Deposition), which allows a predetermined process to be performed without exposing wafers to a very high temperature. Further, the ALD film formation provides good step coverage, and thus is suitable for filling recess portions of semiconductor devices, such as inter-gate gaps, which have become narrower with increased miniaturization of the devices.